FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox starter Tanner Houck knows he shouldn’t have dived headfirst into first base during a meaningless spring training game. Still, he had a little fun with it. “Athlete,” Houck ...

The All-Star righthander went a little above and beyond to record the final out of his three-inning stint, sprinting to first base and diving glove-first to record the putout.

Houck is taking measures to avoid the shoulder fatigue that led to a velocity dip in the second half of 2024, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports. Even with the second-half dip, Houck took a step forward ...